What I Know For Sure After Running My First 5K Race [VIDEO]

Do any of you have a bucket list? I do. It has 12 items on it ranging from teaching someone to read to living in another county outside of the United States. However, the item I can check off today is running in a 5K race.

On Saturday at 8 a.m., the morning air was a little crisp when I ran with hundreds of other people in Texarkana's first CASA Colorful 5K Race. I had so much fun even though I was shoved about on the trail as well as at the starting line.

I learned several things that day:

1. I can do anything if I put my mind to it.
2. I need to always find out what type of surface I will be running on.
3. Expect the unexpected. (I certainly didn't think far enough ahead to realize that the trail could be muddy.)
4. Hills can be treacherous to climb when mud fills the tread of you shoes.
5. The cool air that you breathe in makes you more tired than exercising in the gym.

All of these things may have played a part in why many runners didn't get to the finish line. In my case, although I was exhausted and wanting to quit, I knew I would be disappointed in myself if I did. So what encouraged me to continue, you may ask? I heard the voice of my husband's trainer saying,"Go Gummie Bear! You can do it!", listening to the heart pumping music on my iPod shuffle and the support of my loving husband on the sidelines encouraging me every step of the way to cross the finish line of my first 5K race.